Is like Tarantino thing. Zepp and Tarantino took their simple influences thAt were groundbreaking in their own way and altered them and elevated them. They took top notch concepts thAt lacked in execution and executed them.

They outright signed their names to his music and got sued for it. Settled out of court. Then there's muddy Waters and Jake Holmes too. I'm not sure how those cases ended up but it was pretty clear Page, Plant, ET al, were plagarists.

When was the last time you whiners listened to Zeppelin? There are a few blues covers & blues influenced songs here & there on the 1st four albums. If it were plagiarism they wouldn't have been able to put them on the albums.

Plagiarism laws don't stop people from stealing. The punish them for it afterwards. Your argument is a bit like saying someone couldn't be guilty of bank robbery because they'd never have let him in the bank in the first place if he were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyvLsutfI5M
That's part one, and then listen to the other parts. I just listened to these last night and damn, they really have stolen a lot of their music.
Having said that, I still enjoy Led Zeppelin's music. They were talented musicians, just not original writers and chose not to give credit or pay royalties to the true writers. Basically, they are assholes who made good music. I also read up on their sexual shenanigans last night and sounds like they were doing some pretty vile things in that department, too....sexual assault, statutory rape, etc.
But, like I said, talented musicians nonetheless.

They thought that was enough, and it was until 1980-81 when the old Blues Men finally got them to pony up for "paying homage/borrowing/stealing." The precedent was George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord/He's So Fine" lawsuit of the 1970's.
There is an unwritten rule in music that if you are 24 years old or younger you will not be sued, IF the original act likes you. If they don't like you you will be sued. An example is Chuck Berry and The Beach Boys over "Sweet Little 16/Surfin' USA." Chuck busted them in the 1960's. Brian Wilson admitted it, said he ment no harm, and now gives co-credit to Chuck Berry. The "Ice Ice Baby/Under Pressure" debacle of Vanilla Ice verses David Bowie and Queen is the greatest example ever. That suit bankrupted the record company SBK Records, and killed the career of not only Vanilla Ice but his lablemates Wilson Philips.
Now if you are 25 or older, you will be sued because you should know better. Richard Ashcroft was 25 when the band The Verve recorded their one big hit "Bittersweet Symphony", and was still sued by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. They said while he had permission to use the string sample from "This Could Be The Last Time", Ashcroft copied too much of the vocal.
Mick and Keith have become real assholes in the last 15 years about their copyrights. The documentary "RiP: the Remix Manifesto" does a great job of pointing out Mick and Keith's hypocricy.
Now The Beatles never sued Nirvana, who were all under 25 when Nevermind was released, but EMI did go after Danger Mouse who did the mash-up of Jay-Z's "The Balck Album" and 1968's The White Album." It's called "The Grey Album." It can never be released commercially, but it is up on youtube because Jay-Z and Paul McCartney are fine with it. Again, if they are a fan, they let it slide.
As for Led Zeppelin, to this day they get very little money for the Led Zep II album.-----later-----m

Stairway to Heaven and Kashmir were good songs but I'm not getting the overall vibe of this Classic Rock Band.
And stealing from Blues singers (Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters) don't earn any cred whatsoever.
I'll give The Ramones (progenitors of Punk Rock) more props than these Blokes who are acredited for the creation of Heavy Metal.

i believe that i have earned the right to bash on them
just as i have the right to bash on elvis and all the other white boys who stole the black man's music
when are nwa gonna get kennedy center honors?

Zep.always struck me as junior High rock. Stuff you listened to in junior high.
They influenced mainstream rock and country more than anything. So lets hate them for that.
The beginning of stairway to heaven is also a total rip off . Check it out on YouTube.

On another level as musicians from Sabbath, as well as more varied and more ambitious.
<p>Also, the plagiarist thing is a tired and oft-parroted criticism which evinces ignorance of the blues.Yes, Zeppelin used existing blues songs IN SOME CASES, but that's common practice in the blues - which is a pretty archetypal form of music anyway. Tons of huge blues stars reused songs from their forebears. Zeppelin put that shit on steroids and turned it into something otherworldly. It's hard to understand why anyone who enjoys rock music and gives it a fair chance would not be bowled over by some of what they created.
<p>I'd say on the Celebration Day release (the reunion from 2007) they're collectively around 50/60% of their abilities when they were at their peak, and they still kick the shit out of most other bands.

to the originals artists. That's wrong. Some are clearly lifted, stolen, taken from or whatever. They should of gave credit. But if you take their entire catalog of music, it clearly shows that Zep is still the most original band ever.
Page is the most imaginative guitarist ever. He may be sloppy on stage at times, but he wears his guitar to his knees and he's moving around too. But he is sloppy. But it's all about writing music. And he's done enough to be original on his own.
And keep in mind that Zep is the greatest influential band ever.
Even if you were to say that 75% of their music totally was ripped off, the other 25% blows away everyone else.

I hate arguing over music because it's highly subjective. Even those with similar taste have their odd preferences.
I would like to add that while Zeppelin were highly influential to a certain segment of the rawk populace, I would put all my chips on the Beatles as the most or greatest influence. Oddly I'm not really a fan of either.

The Stones did it, Elvis did it, Guns n' Roses did it....every band has done it. There are obviously degrees to it, but capping on certain bands for thievery just doesn't cut it in my eyes, when they're all guilty.
I've always been 50/50 on Zeppelin. I love some of their songs - The Immigrant Song is a constant on my Ipod when I work out - but some others I can't listen to. I'm that way with a lot of bands. But Zeppelin DID have some really good songs.
Also, about those sexual assault allegations....does that surprise anyone? Read up on the Stonse and "Cocksucker Blues." Ugly, ugly stuff. The backstage world, replete with alcohol, drugs, and all-to-willing partners, regardless of age, is scary.

Up until 1984-85, it was not uncommon when 16 year olds would hook up with bands backstage people would not think anything of it. Remember in "Almost Famous", set in 1973 and based in part on Led Zeppelin, Kate Hudson and Anna Paquin's characters are 15-16. At the end of the 1970's some were advocating lowering the age of consent to 16 nationwide, because some states had it at 17 or even 18. The cultural backlash hit in the 1980's and by 1985 there were many high-profile cases of finding people guilty of statuory rape.
Def Leppard on their "Behind The Music" episode talk about the fact that the long drum solo in their set was so the other guys could go below-stage and get blowjobs from females picked out of the audience. They even mention there was once a mother-daughter combo.
Pamela De Barres in her book "I'm With the Band" writes about how she was one of Jimmy Page's favorites. And actress Jeanne Tripplehorn told a story of one rock band coming to her HS to pick her up in a limo. She was a weekend DJ at the local rock station, and was 16 at the time. She claims she did not go with them.
My earlier post was to point out that everyone does steal. The documentary "RiP" even points out that "This Could Be The Last Time" is stolen from a blues song as well.-----later-----m

elvis was given songs by black artists to perform...get the records, his name doesnt appear as credited with writing them...the record producer's name may appear, and no one was out there saying...hey, big mama thorton did this first
beatles and stones were influenced by american blues singers...and they told everyone that they were
when either covered a song on an album...credit is given to the original writers, and neither john or paul added their names to the credits
zepp put out entire albums of cover music and took credit as original artists...thats called a scam and stealing, as royalties were not paid to the original artists
were they great musicians? maybe...who cares
they stole...they lied and they made money doing it...
they will end up in the same hell that stan lee will find himself in
happy 90th you old bastard

Because Led Zepplin was about SO MUCH MORE than recycling blues riffs. The creating some of the most original music of that era. Did Page re-use blues riffs? Yes! He discussed it openly from the very beginning. But the rest of their catalogue is filled with magical journeys into realms rarely visited by acts before, or since. Look up a list of all their songs and count how many are ACTUALLY blues based. It's only a small fraction.
<p>
I will agree that Page was definitely sloppy on stage, in their latter years in particular. At the beginning he was pretty spot on. But some of the live footage towards the end when he's dripping with sweat (hmm, wonder why?), is pretty awful.

...is as old as the recording process itself. People did it long before the members of Led Zepplin were born and they're doing it right now. That's not stealing, and if you think it is you need to do some more research on how that process works.
<p>
I understand there are some blues riffs that were lifted. Again, Page has never really denied it. Is that wrong? Yeah, probably. But it's the blues, there ain't that many ways to play it. You either accept that somebody is playing it from the heart, or you don't.

It's part 1 of several partsand you should watch them all. He didn't just replicate classic blues riffs. They used lyrics word for word along with the riffs and arrangements. It wasn't a case of accidental unconscious influence or homage...it was theft. Plain and simple.
And I'm a Zeppelin fan! That's what sickens me.

However, nothing will change the fact that that is only a SMALL portion of the music and magic they wrote and created. Remove all of that and they're still one of the most original rock bands to ever put music to tape. You only have to look at the fact that no other band has equaled the quality and style of their sound to realize how great they were. I've considered posting a list of songs for people to compare, to tell me how anybody could come up with something that beautiful, ethereal, hard, dark, mystical, etc., but haters are gonna hate. And like a Tarantino movie, it's revisionist hate. It's like hating the Beatles. It comes from one of two places. A) Ignorance. B) Obstinance. Led Zepplin was BRILLIANT band. One that has been influencing people for more than forty years and will continue to do so long after we're all dead and gone.

Ok you can "not like" the heavy dark direction of sabbath, but as.musicians they are equal to ... No they are greater than zep.
Page had a few good riffs, most of which he ripped off. Sloppy. And a real prick. Iommi was a prick too, but he had.more riffs on one album than page has to this day.
Bonham vastly overrated drummer. Death made him a legend.
JPJ was easily the best player. But zeps.real strength was plants voice. And stage presence. And good looks.
Watch a documentary. These guys were assholes. Wonder if you would like then if your 15 year old daughter have them.bjs

First of all, regardless of how they acted, and that they stole some music, these four are the four best in each category.
Page is the most innovative guitarist period. Yes he stole some tunes. Totally not cool! But, the dude still was able to write some of the coolest most versatile songs ever. Fantastic producer as well. It's about what you can write, not just technique like Yngwie or someone. Created different sounds, mixed styles, different recording techniques.
Plant had the best rock voice ever. Great stage presence.
JPJ was the best bassist because he wrote the best bass lines for the songs. Other bassists can out riff him, but it's about what you bring to the song. Plus a great keyboardist and acoustic player. Super versatile.
Bonzo easily the best drummer. Again other drummers can out riff/play him with technique etc., but Bonzo had power and feeling and wrote the best drum parts. It's what you bring to the songs.
Zep's lyrics were killer and overall image. No other band even comes close.
Some of these stolen songs are only parts. There's still is the rest of the songs that Zep wrote.
Achilles Last Stand is the best rock song ever wrote. Can someone prove they stole that too?